Taylor Swift’s Father Accused by Paparazzo of Attack; Star’s Team Rebuffs Claim

Taylor Swift’s father is being accused of attacking a paparazzo on Tuesday morning in Sydney after exiting a boat with the pop superstar just hours after her final performance of her Eras Tour in the capital. 

Scott Swift has been a fixture as his daughter’s sold-out shows have moved from city to city. On Tuesday, the 71-year-old dubbed Papa Swift by fans allegedly charged at a photographer after he and his daughter disembarked a boat around 2:30 a.m. in Sydney. Authorities in New South Wales confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that an incident at Sydney’s Neutral Bay Wharf was reported in the early hours of Tuesday, but declined to name those involved in the alleged attack.

“Police have been told a 71-year-old man allegedly assaulted a 51-year-old man at Neutral Bay Wharf about 2.30 a.m. (Tuesday 27 February 2024), before leaving the location,” authorities said this morning. “The younger man reported the incident and inquiries are now underway by officers attached to North Shore Police Area Command. The man did not require medical treatment.”

On Tuesday afternoon, Sydney police confirmed by phone that the investigation is still ongoing. 

The singer’s representative released a statement to THR saying that “two individuals were aggressively pushing their way towards Taylor, grabbing at her security personnel, and threatening to throw a female staff member into the water.”

The photographer, Ben McDonald, the 51-year-old CEO of agency Matric Media Group, gave his account of the incident to the Daily Mail. “Which female was that?” he asked, responding to Swift’s team’s claim that a woman was threatened. “The only one there was Taylor.”

“She got off the boat, she walked towards security guards who were shoving umbrellas in our faces, and then he charged,” McDonald claimed to the Mail, adding that he at first thought Papa Swift was a security guard.

Footage of the incident posted by the Mail Online shows Swift and her father exiting the dock at Neutral Bay Wharf, with the singer hidden under an umbrella. Scott Swift is seen giving the middle finger to gathered photographers. At one point, security is heard in the footage saying not to touch the umbrella; then the camera jolts and a man says, “that wasn’t me, that wasn’t me.”  McDonald then asks. “Who was that?”  

The photographer said the singer was in a vehicle at the time he was attacked — which he says he did nothing to provoke. “I’ve been doing this for 23 years and I haven’t been in a situation where someone’s hit me in the chops,” he said.